A Tale of Two Heroes
by bandgeek18
Summary: A day of fun in the park with his aunt turns into a life or death situation for 6-year-old Wally West. Luckily his hero is there to save the day. Set before season 1. Oneshot.


A/N: Someday I'll probably stop writing AU's about Barry and Wally's first meeting, but today wasn't that day. This is a sort of AU and a short fic. Barry isn't dating Iris yet and neither she or Wally know he's the Flash. So...enjoy.

The park was way better than any of the ones in Keystone. Wally climbed to the top of the jungle gym on the playground so he could see the whole thing. There were tons of people walking around, playing frisbee, jogging on the paths, and performing for small crowds. "Wally!" He looked down to see his aunt looking up at him. "Be careful!"

'Don't worry Aunt Iris!" he called back. Taking no time or effort to think his actions through, he leaped from the top of the structure. It really wasn't far, since it was designed for 6 year-olds like himself. He didn't even hurt himself; despite his rough landing. Wally laughed as his aunt ran over to him.

"Wally, are you ok?!"

"I'm fine Aunt I!" He jumped up and put his hands proudly on his hips. "See?" Iris chuckled and brushed the wood chips his clothes off.

"I do see. You need to be careful though. You're not indestructible like Superman."

"I can't fly like Superman either." Iris took his hand and started walking with him away from the playground. "Time for us to go to lunch."

Wally tested around and looked back at the playground longingly. "Awww. I want to play some more!"

"We can come back afterward, I promise."

Wally grinned and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by a sonic boom only a few blocks away. Everything stopped in the park as everyone looked in the direction the noise had come from. A sudden wind storm kicked up, knocking paper around and some small children off their feet. Lightning crackled in the air, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Wally frowned in confusion, but Iris, having lived in Central City for many years, knew what was going on. So did the other residents in the park. People started running in the opposite direction the sonic boom had come from, another one, closer this time, caused them to move faster.

"What's happening?!" Wally asked as Iris dragged him along with the crowd. "Aunt Iris-" Someone suddenly cut between Wally and Iris, causing the small boy to lose his grip on her hand. He fell to the ground and stumbled. "Aunt Iris!" He looked around, but she wasn't visible in the crowd. He got to his feet and fought the crowd to try and get to her. "Aunt Iris!" he yelled as loud as he could, but his voice was drowned out by another sonic boom. Wally stopped running and looked around, trying to find his aunt.

The park was soon empty of others, leaving Wally alone in the large space. Despite his young age, he could feel the foreboding in the air. Another sonic boom hit the air, so close it hurt his ears. He put his hands over his ears and moaned. The wind storm started blowing again and the lightning crackled out of nowhere again. Whimpering, Wally hid behind a bush. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, two streaks raced into the park; a red one and a yellow one. Yellow lightning surrounded the red one and red lightning surrounded the yellow one. He peered curiously through the branches as the streaks suddenly stopped. His mouth opened in a silent gasp and his eyes widened when he saw that the red streak was the Flash. It was really him! The hero his aunt was always interviewing at her job! He didn't know who the other guy was, but something about him gave Wally the feeling he was the bad guy. Lightning continued to crackle around the feet of the speedsters as they stared each other down.

"Give up yet, Flash?" the man in yellow asked.

"In your dreams, Thawne," Flash replied angrily. "Did you really think bringing the fight to a high traffic area would change my mind?"

"Hm…maybe I thought the lives of your precious citizens being in danger might distract you." He darted forward and the two streaks started chasing each other again. A few seconds later the yellow man was pinning the Flash to the ground. Wally was close enough he could see the man's smile. Without even saying anything, he started punching the Flash in the face. He moved so fast all Wally could see was the blurred motion of his arms. When he stopped the Flash's face was covered in blood.

'Oh no…' Wally thought worriedly. 'Flash looks really hurt.' The man in yellow grabbed the Flash's arm as the Flash tried to punch him and, with surprising strength, twisted it the wrong way. The crack and corresponding scream of pain made Wally cringe and cover his ears. 'I have to do something!' A small collection of rocks near his knees on his right caught his attention and he smiled. He grabbed a rock and peeked over the top of the bush. The yellow man smiled as he moved to punch the Flash again, only to freeze when a rock hit him in the head.

"What-" Wally threw two more rocks, hitting him in the head. In the blink of an eye he was suddenly not behind the bush, but standing in front of the man in yellow. The rock he'd been holding feel from his hand limply as he stared up at the imposing figure. The villain glared down at the child, as lightning continued to crackle around him.

'I have to help Flash. I have to save him.' Wally swallowed. "L-Leave Flash alone!" he yelled, running forward. He kicked the yellow man in the shin with all his strength.

"Ow! You little brat!" The man grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. "You'll regret that."

Wally whimpered as the man's glowing red eyes got close to his face and the lightning got close to Wally's body. "F-Flash…" he said slowly.

Flash, meanwhile, was trying to hear past the ringing in his ears. Pain in his head had deafened him for a few seconds. 'Did someone say my name?' He lifted his head up and froze. Reverse Flash was holding up a little boy who could've been no older than 5 or 6.

"Flash!" the boy cried out. "Flash, help!"

"No…" Flash whispered, pushing himself to his feet through his pain. "Don't touch him! Leave him alone!"

Reverse Flash simply smiled and ran to the other side of the park. The world dissolved into a blur and then suddenly solidified again for Wally, who was feeling a sudden and powerful vertigo. The villain smiled down at him, but within seconds his smile started disappearing, filing Wally with dread. "Why do I know you?" he asked quietly.

"W-what-" Wally stammered. He had no idea who this crazy, evil guy was!

"Red-hair, kid-" The man in yellow stopped and suddenly smiled. It was sinister and sly, making Wally whimper a little bit. "Wally West…" Wally gaped at him. On the one hand, a Flash villain thought he was important enough to know him. On the other one though, he was pretty sure he was going to die because a Flash villain knew his name! The villain just kept smiling as he held Wally up. "Oh, this is-" He as cut off by a sudden gust of wind almost knocked the two of them over.

"Let him go!" Flash shouted at the villain. The Man in Yellow studied Flash's face for a second.

"You really want to save him, don't you?"

"Of course I do! I protect everyone, especially kids!"

A look of confusion flickered across the Man in Yellow's face, but it was quickly replaced with an even sinister smile than before. He started laughing. "Oh, this is wonderful! You don't even know who he is!"

"I don't need to know, now put him down!"

"Oh, you should know, Flash. In fact," the world disappeared in a blur again the wind felt like it was nearly suffocating Wally. When they stopped again they were back on the other side of the park. Flash was only feet from them though. "you should want to know like the ones you love depend on it."

"Let him go, Reverse Flash! He's just a kid!"

Reverse Flash laughed. "That's where you're wrong, Flash. He's not just a kid." He ran off with Wally again, this time stopping on top of the playground equipment. "He's the future." Wally squirmed uncomfortably. Wanting to get away, he suddenly jerked his head forward to headbutt the Reverse Flash. The man dropped him in shock and Wally wasted no time scurrying away. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly and come after Wally, grabbing his ankle. Wally kicked out with his free leg, but the Reverse Flash wouldn't let go.

"Let go!" the boy shouted. "Let go!"

"No! Not now!" Reverse Flash tried to pull him back, but Wally's small hands grabbed onto the edge of the platform. "Brat!" He pulled hard, breaking the child's grip and grabbing him by his shirt. Flash stopped a few feet from them.

"Hi, Flash."

Flash almost smiled at the nonchalant way the kid addressed him. "Hey, kid," he replied. Then he turned his attention back to the villain. "Thawne, he's a child. Let him go. Now."

"Make me."

An idea popped into the Flash's head but it was risky. The kid could get hurt….but if he didn't act soon, the kid was liable to get hurt or killed anyway. He looked the tiny civilian in the eye. "Do you trust me, kiddo?" The boy nodded solemnly. "Ok."

Thawne started laughing. "What're you going to do-" Before he could finish his sentence, Flash ran at him, tackling him off the top of the playground equipment. Moving quick, Flash grabbed Thawne by his suit and ran as soon as his feet hit eh ground. He zigged and zagged, taking as many random turns and corners as he could through the park. After one particularly nasty turns up a tree, Thawne's grip on the boy loosened enough that the kid was able to wiggle free. Unfortunately, they happened to be twenty feet from the ground at the time. Using his own momentum, Flash threw Thawne as hard as he could into the air, then raced down the tree. The world slowed down around him and he could perfectly see the look of terror on the kid's face. Pushing himself even faster, Flash's feet hit the ground and he stopped, causing the world to rivet back to its normal speed. Flash grunted and fell backward as the boy landed in his arms.

Flash landed on his back with the boy cradled against his chest. After a beat he looked at the child, who was staring at him in amazement. "Are you-" A sudden crash caused him to jump to his feet. The hero firmly planted himself between Thawne and the boy. Fortunately, though, it appeared that this time Thawne wouldn't be doing much damage. While the fall had seriously injured him, Flash knew it would take something more than that to kill the villain. The yellow-suited speedster jerked to his feet, awkwardly balancing on one leg due to the other rain broken; even if it was healing.

"This isn't over, Flash!" he spat. "I'll be back!" He eyed the child peeking out from behind Flash's legs. "Don't think I've forgotten you, Wally West. We'll meet again someday, Kid." With one more venomous look, he ran off, disappearing into a streak; leaving behind only a wide storm in his wake.

'Where does he go when he does that?' Flash wondered briefly. Shaking his head, he turned around so he could crouch down to the boy's height. "Are you ok, Wally?"

"Uh-huh," Wally nodded, eyes still wide. 'He knows my name! The Flash know my name!' Suddenly frowning, he reached out and gently touched a cut on the Flash's cheek. "You're hurt."

"I'm ok, kiddo. I heal fast." Flash frowned a little bit. "Are you hurt?"

Wally shook his head. "No, I'm ok."

"That's good." Flash sighed and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Wally…what were you thinking? You shouldn't have intervened. You could've been killed."

"But….I saved you! I had to! You're- you're the best hero in the whole world! I couldn't let him hurt you!" The sincerity in the tiny child's voice made Flash back down a little bit.

"As much as I appreciate you saving my life, I need you to promise me you'll always think of yourself first."

Wally shot his head. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"The Flash- you said…on tv….that-that when someone is in danger, someone should help. And you-you were in danger! So I had to help!" That Flash had not been expecting. There was truly something special about this kid. Something truly amazing.

"How about this, you promise me you'll try to hold off on the heroics until you're at least a little older. Can you do that?"

Wally nodded. "Yes."

"Good. And, as a thank you for saving my life today…" Flash carefully removed his ring from his finger and held it out to Wally. "Here."

Wally gasped a little. "Your ring?! I-I can keep it?!"

"Yes." The boy took the ring slowly like it was the most precious thing in the whole world.

"Thank you."

While the boy was busy examining the ring, slowly turning it over in his hands, Flash studied him. Thawne was from the future and had knowledge about the Flash's own life and world the scarlet speedster simply didn't possess. Which would explain how he knew the boy's name, but it still raised many questions. 'Why are you so important it caused a speed demon to know your name, huh Wally?' Flash wondered silently. 'Who do you grow up to become?' The answers would have to wait for another day because the sound of a woman yelling caused Flash to stand.

"Wally!" the woman shouted as she ran toward them. Flash recognized her as a reporter who had interviewed him several times on tv. What was her name…it was some kind of flower…Heather? Lily?

"Aunt Iris!" Wally smiled. Iris pretty much pushed the Flash out of the way to pull her nephew into a hug.

"Wally, are you ok?! I lost you in the crowd and I couldn't find you-"

"I'm ok, Aunt I! I was with the Flash!" Iris turned her head like she was just noticing the hero was there for the first time. She stood up and used one hand to push Wally against the side of her body protectively.

"Flash," she said in greeting.

"Ms. Iris," Flash replied. "That's quite a nephew you've got there."

Iris smiled a little bit and wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulder so she could give him a one-armed hug. "I do. He's a marvelous kiddo."

"I can see that." Flash looked down at the young boy. "Bye, Wally. I hope we meet again someday."

"Me too," Wally replied. He blinked and the Flash was gone, disappearing in a red streak.

Iris looked down at Wally and put her hand on his head. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked him.

"Yes, Aunt Iris. I'm ok."

"Good. Let's go. We can get some lunch, then go back to my apartment."

"Ok!" Iris took his hand firmly and Wally briefly considered telling her about the ring the Flash and given him. Instead, he put it in the pocket of his sweater.

'It's a secret,' he decided as they walked. 'A secret for me and Flash only. I'm gonna be a great hero like you, Flash. Someday. I promise.'


End file.
